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Although the French Huguenots led by Capt. Jean Ribault in
1562 laid claim to the First Coast area, it was the Spanish who first settled
the area around Jacksonville Beach, establishing missions from Mayport to St.
Augustine. The Spanish ceded East Florida to the English by treaty in 1763 only
to regain control twenty years later. In 1821 the Spanish ceded Florida to the
United States of America.
The area was settled by river pilots and fishermen as early
as 1831 when Mayport, then known as Hazard, was established as a port. The
Mayport lighthouse was erected in 1859 and still stands at the Naval Station
Mayport. By 1885 Mayport had 600 inhabitants, a post office and a school. The
town was also visited daily by steamships which brought beach-goers from
Jacksonville down the St. Johns River.
Meanwhile, a group of enterprising Jacksonville businessmen
conceived the idea of a railway to the beaches east of Jacksonville. It was
their plan to develop a summer resort to attract tourists to the Jacksonville
area. The Jacksonville and Atlantic Railway Company was chartered in 1883 to
build sixteen and a half miles of narrow gauge railway from South Jacksonville
to the Ruby Beach settlement.
The company acquired many acres of choice oceanfront
property which was divided into lots. By November 12, 1884, Ruby was ready for
the first buyers of the subdivided lots. About fifty prospective buyers arrived
by excursion boats. In all, thirty-four lots were sold that day for a grand
total of $7,514.
In 1884 William E. Scull, surveyor for the railroad, and his
wife Eleanor, moved to the area now known as Jacksonville Beach. There were
already several tent houses in the vicinity. The Sculls lived in one tent and
ran the first general store from another. Later the Sculls applied for a post
office under the name of Ruby, a name chosen in honor of their oldest daughter,
and ran the post office from their store. Mail was delivered by boat once a
week from Jacksonville.
In 1886, Ruby was renamed Pablo Beach after the San Pablo River to the west
that divides the island from the mainland.
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Upon completion of the railway to Pablo Beach in mid 1886,
the first resort hotel was built and opened to the public. The splendid
multistory wooden structure, the Murray Hall hotel, had 192 rooms and could
accommodate 350 guests. The Hotel advertised an elevator, electric bells, hot,
cold and sulfur baths, bar, bowling and billiards. It also claimed it was
located on "The Finest Beach in the World!" with "Surf Bathing the Year Round!"
The construction cost was $150,000. Unfortunately a fire in the boiler room
around midnight on August 7, 1890 destroyed the hotel, the railway depot and
surrounding buildings. However, the guests and their belongings were saved.
The Murray Hall was followed by other resort hotels: the Adams House, the
Perkins House, the Continental, the Ocean View and the Palmetto Lodge. All were
eventually destroyed by fire.
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Photograph taken around 1940 of the
ferris wheel on the boardwalk.
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Palmetto Avenue
Pablo Beach, Florida
Looking east from what is currently the intersection of Beach Boulevard and 2nd
Street.
Photograph taken around 1906.
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The railway company soon met with financial
difficulties and was taken over by the millionaire
Henry M. Flagler as part of the Florida East
Railway System. Late in 1900 the railway was
changed to standard gauge and extended to Mayport.
Further transportation was added in 1910 when
a winding oyster shell road was constructed
near the present Atlantic Boulevard, dividing
Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach.
Pablo Beach was incorporated on May 22, 1907.
In 1925 the name was changed to Jacksonville Beach.
The boardwalk era began in 1915 and 1916 when
businessman Martin Williams, Sr. established dance pavilions, shooting
galleries, boxing, wrestling, restaurants and other forms of entertainment on
the new boardwalk.
Auto racing
on the hard-packed sand of the beaches made the
area popular for this spectator sport. The boardwalk's
popularity declined in the late 1950's with the
state's crackdown on gambling and games of chance.
Driving on the beach was prohibited in 1979.
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Oceanfront near the pier, photo taken about 1920
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The first sidewalk in Pablo Beach was a
wooden boardwalk to the oceanfront on Ocean Avenue, which is now known as Pablo
Avenue. Before Third Street and the current City Hall complex were built, Ocean
Avenue was a through street. Photo taken around 1898.
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Photograph of the first City Hall
built in Jacksonville Beach
located on Pablo Avenue, 1927
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On September 4, 1922, Pablo Beach came into the international limelight when
First Lieutenant James H. Doolittle, after a previous abortive attempt, broke
the transcontinental speed record. With only one stop at Kelly Field in Texas,
he flew from Pablo Beach to San Diego in less than 24 hours. For this feat he
was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross. One September 4, 1980, he
returned to unveil a marker in Jacksonville Beach's Pablo Historical Park.
James Doolittle had a distinguished military career, leaving service as a Lt.
General.
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Historical information and historical
photographs courtesy of The Beaches Area Historical Society.
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